Exciting footage recently released by Varda Space Industries offers a first-person perspective of a space capsule’s journey back to Earth. The video captures the capsule separating from its carrier satellite in orbit, descending through the atmosphere, and landing at the Utah Test and Training Range on February 21. This marked a significant milestone for Varda as the first commercial company to achieve this feat after spending eight months in low Earth orbit awaiting necessary government approvals.
Sharing the raw footage on X, Varda exclaimed, “Here’s a video of our capsule ripping through the atmosphere at mach 25, no renders, raw footage.” Additionally, a 28-minute video documenting the entire journey from low Earth orbit to landing was uploaded to YouTube.
Varda collaborated with Rocket Lab for this mission with the goal of developing mini-labs capable of manufacturing pharmaceuticals in space, such as the HIV drug ritonavir. The W-1 capsule was connected to Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite “bus,” which provided essential functions like power, communications, and altitude control. Following the successful reentry, the Photon satellite disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere, leaving the capsule to be retrieved. The ritonavir crystals grown in orbit will now be analyzed by Improved Pharma, a pharmaceutical company based in Indiana.
